Supervisor John Avalos wants all neighborhoods "served equally" by the cannabis clubs.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

Supervisor John Avalos wants all neighborhoods "served equally" by...

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A pedestrian walks past the front of the non-profit SPARC dispensary building March 26, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. SPARC provides affordable medical marijuana to its members as well as education on other alternative health options for medical supplements.

The City Planning Commission agreed Thursday to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open for business closer to schools, parks and recreation areas, despite opposition from educators.

"The school buffer zone makes us feel good if we say it's 1,000 feet," said Commissioner Rich Hillis. "But I have three kids and they're everywhere."

But San Francisco Unified School District officials argued that trimming the buffer zone to 600 feet would make a real difference to the city's public schools, especially since a 2012 survey showed that 10 percent of the kids in the city's middle schools and one-third of its high school students have used marijuana.

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The national Drug Free School Zone requires a 1,000-foot buffer, said Chris Armentrout, the district's director of local government relations. "That federal buffer established by Congress is ... what the district feels is appropriate."

But most of Thursday's speakers backed the planning staff's recommendation, arguing that it was wrong to have 21 of the city's 29 dispensaries crammed into the area between Divisadero Street in the west and Cesar Chavez Street to the south, with 17 located South of Market.

Supervisor John Avalos, who asked the planners to take a look at the city's location rules for the dispensaries, "wants to be sure all neighborhoods are served equally" by the cannabis clubs, said Jeremy Pollack, an aide to Avalos.

Commissioner Michael Antonini was opposed to many of the changes, arguing that many people, such as members of the Kaiser-Permanente health plan, routinely travel distances in the city to get traditional medical care.

Antonini could find little support for most of his concerns, however.

On a 6-1 vote, the commission agreed to recommend that the buffer zones around schools be trimmed to 600 feet and eliminated entirely for youth-serving recreational facilities. They also called for allowing dispensaries on the second floor of commercial buildings.

The recommendations now go to the Board of Supervisors, where it could be a while before any action is taken.

Avalos' aide says the supervisor believes "there's a question of whether there's the political will for the city to take on this project."